Worked All Day and All I Got is this Penny...

I figured it out, I worked all day for a Penny.

I have been looking for some affordable Viking era coins. I was hoping to some day add a coin of a ruler of my most ancient ancestors. I was looking at museum photos of the rare, crude and early Scandinavian coins all very fascinating and struck from Unobtainium.

I have mentioned in several other posts my love for the very small manual "Reading Medieval European Coins" by Ralph S. Walker, with this coin I put it to the test. The coin was mis-attributed on the 'bay. It was previously attributed as Derby mint and an unspecified moneyer. I have read the manual several times cover to cover (44 pages). It has a chart with all the different Anglo letters that do and do not exist in our language proper, and outlines some important abbreviations. I am sure there are better texts and catalogs for Anglo-Scandinavian pence, but these 44 pages was extremely helpful. I was able to determine the mint and moneyer with some relative certainty.

The key that broke the whole legend wide open was the first letter to the right of the Maltese Cross. What to everyone thinks looks like a D followed by V is actually not a D or P with a faint line perpendicular to the spine, but rather a symbol or letter used on coins for "TH" sort of like a Theta. (Uber Interesting.) The other letters are well formed an completely legible as the moneyer Thurston of Stamford. Notice "ON STA"

There are some odd "extra pellets" on the reverse....can an penny guy make comment?

Also appealing to me is the use of the pointed Viking helmet used on this penny. This penny was most likely struck after AD 1021. The coin was modeled on Late Roman coinage, although many centuries afterward.

Again rather than butchering the history Ill just sum it up real fast.

Cnut was a Danish Viking whom was the first king to unite all of England. He was proclaimed King of England, Denmark, Norway and some of Swedes.

Any additions or corrections are much appreciated. Any information on the extra pellets would be awesome. Feel free to comment and pile on your pence.


North Sea Empire
Stamford, Anglia
Cnut the Great (r. AD 1016 -1035)
AR Penny 18.2 mm x 1.00 grams (c. AD 1021-1035)
Obverse: The helmeted bust of Cnut left holding a scepter with 3 lobes.+ CNVT REX A
Reverse: Short cross with 4 pellets and 2 extra opposing pellets. + THVRSTAN ON STA
Note: EF

 

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What a terrific coin! Here is an article on the TH character:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th_(digraph)

 

Wonderful Doug5353 ! Thanks a bunch. I am finding all the different fonts extremely fascinating. How letters and even groups of letters can by another letter or a symbol for a variety of reason. (Usually a spacing constraint.)

 

The Thorn and Eth are still used in modern Icelandic.

Icelandic is a really neat language because it was so isolated for so long it hasn't evolved as much as other languages and is close to Old Norse. The school children in Iceland when they take tours of the museum that holds the old manuscripts of the sagas and the eddas wonder why the old Icelanders spelled the words incorrectly.

That is my fun fact for the day.

 

I think more a transliteration constraint than spacing. Before the computer age, we saw newspapers and magazines stuggle with Spanish words, like using manana instead of mañana. The mini-N is called a tilde.

By the way, I forgot these notes. Some people mistakenly (but semi-logically) refer to the TH character as "thorn" -- no connection. I'm not sure of its sound.

• Thorn (letter) (Þ, þ), a letter in the Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic alphabets
• Thorn (rune) (ᚦ), a rune of the Anglo-Saxon fuþorc

 

Oh, that is cool. I only pointed it it because it looks like an Eth to me.

In terms of pronunciation itstead of the th sound as in 'think' for thurston it would be a dental t followed by hurston? It is hard to explain a sound like it.

Edit: Wikipedia helped me out. It is th sound as in the River Thames!

 

Here's an example of what's out there, free, and in substantial detail. I Googled for "Sumerian alphabet," and found several pages of transcriptions. There's probably similar pages for EVERY old alphabet.

http://tinyurl.com/pc9xjh4

Each page on that site can be enlarged by clicking. At the top appear to be links to ancient Persian, Babylonian, and Assyrian. I'm sure all the languages/alphabets 500 A.D. to the Norman Conquest are spelled out somewhere too. Alphabets are one of the fundamental data-sets of archaeology, there should be hundreds online with a minimal search.

 

Sweet!! => that's a pretty cool coin, Noob

... sadly, I don't have an example to toss into your thread

Cheers

 

That's a cool coin, particularly given its significance to you. Oh, and I'm totally stealing "Unobtainium". That's #104 on the Periodic Table, right?

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Map!

 

What is the color legend for this map?

 

Red Lands where Cnut is regent. Orange are Vassals and Tributaries, Yellow are Cnut's allies and Grey is other Dominions.

 

A very interesting coin in a very high grade (I assume). The bust is very distinctive, in a sort of cartoon-ish way - to modern eyes I suppose. I have the same reaction to a good numismatic book: I read and re-read it, looking to cherry-pick a piece that's been mis-attributed. Nice work!

 

Got to love those
Although it's not that far from home (afterall, Europe isn't THAT big) I don't know much about these. Thanks for showing it and the map

Q

 

I'd like to get one of these but just havent. Great stuff AN.

 

Terrific write-up, follow-up and posted coin!!
I wish, I had anything similar to post...but I no longer have any medieval coins, let alone those of the type you are discussing---(couldn't photograph it if i did).

The coin is obviously high grade, with stunning details, VERY light wear and well-struck---a real beauty!!

 

I'd rather be able to show a guest a coin like that (and discuss it intelligently) than a hundred slabbed gold and silver eagles...

 

Can I get an AMEN up in here!!

 

Ok, AMEN!!!!

 

Awesome coin Masternoob, love the details, i'll be looking into these bad boys.